


My Brother The Human

by TomyrisDarkwarden



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Forgiveness, Genji Shimada is a Little Shit, Hanzo Shimada Needs a Hug, M/M, Post-Recall, Shimada Brothers, Shimada Brothers need healing, Understanding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-07-12 03:11:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15986381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TomyrisDarkwarden/pseuds/TomyrisDarkwarden
Summary: It's hard sometimes for Genji to remember that his brother is human.





	My Brother The Human

It’s hard sometimes for Genji to remember that his brother is human.  
It doesn’t mean he thinks Hanzo is flawless. In his younger days he would gleefully list those faults, which usually boiled down to “Hanzo has no heart.”  
As a child Hanzo had been his hero. Full of grace and wisdom. Someone he aspired to be like.  
As he got older, and grace and wisdom seemed like an awful lot of “all work and no play” and that aspiration became a cage and Hanzo, his jailor.  
Then “That Night” happened. The night Genji “died” and between the anger and the pain any trace of Hanzo’s humanity was erased from Genji's mind and he became some sort of video game antagonist. A big bad evil guy that Genji would kill and the world would be safer for it.  
Then he met Master Zenyatta and learned what true grace and wisdom were.  
He decided to forgive Hanzo, whether Hanzo was repentant or not.  
There seemed to be hope.  
Hanzo had renounced the clan. Had gone on the run. Had dedicated his life to bringing his former empire down. Had rejected Talon and their offers of power.  
Genji hoped, but he didn’t really believe. Deep in his heart he figured Hanzo’s repentance hadn’t been about him. Not truly. More broken up about what being a kinslayer meant for his honor than about Genji himself.  
Oh what a fool he had been.  
All of his life.  
He knew on some level that Hanzo’s icy demeanor was armor and that that armor was thick.  
He thought he knew what resided under it.  
Good God had he been wrong.  
Hanzo wasn’t just “sorry” for what he had done. He wasn’t “repentant”, he was devastated.  
A thing curled in on itself, full of pain and self hatred.  
And it hadn’t even started with Genji’s death.  
The more he watched Hanzo, the more he pried that armor away, the more Genji saw of the torture Hanzo’s upbringing, so different from his own, had inflicted on him.  
It took Genji a shamefully long time to realize that “Honor” in the sense that he had been taught by Morrison, Reyes, Amari and the rest of Overwatch was not the same definition the clan had foisted on Hanzo.  
For Genji, post-Overwatch, “Honor” meant integrity displayed through one's actions. Not taking the easy way out.

Honor resided in one’s actions.

For Hanzo, Honor was a gift bestowed on him by, first their father, then the elders, then nobody.  
Honor, for Hanzo, meant acceptance and love. The kind Sojiro had given his precious Sparrow freely, but had denied his heir in order to use as both carrot and stick.  
“Honor”.  
“Redemption”.  
It was no wonder he couldn’t find what it was he was looking for. He was looking for the wrong thing. Or perhaps he was looking for the right thing under the wrong heading and got confused.  
The longer Genji watched Hanzo, the more he realized that he had never really known him at all, and he found himself curious about who his brother really was.  
Sure, he had pried loose Hanzo's armor of ice and hostility, but that was only his outermost defense. There were still a dozen layers to get through, each one woven tighter than the last.   
When it came to a head it was at 4am on a Wednesday.  
Genji didn’t often have nightmares anymore.  
Well that wasn’t necessarily true. He had plenty of nightmares, but since he began his training under Master Zenyatta they had become easier to deal with.  
At least on most nights.  
Tonight would most likely take some tea.  
He shouldn’t have been surprised to find Hanzo with his own cup of tea at what was designated “The Kitchen Table” lit only by a tea light and a sporting thousand years stare.  
Genji smiled softly at his brother simultaneously sorry and not sorry that his body was bare from the waist up. He knew the scars, both battle inflicted and surgical (not to mention the prosthetic arm and metal jaw and spine casing) made Hanzo cagey.  
Genji saw Hanzo’s eyes flick towards him, saw his muscles bunch in a fight or flight response and then-  
Well not “relax”, but he stopped looking quite so physically wary.  
His eyes shuttered in a way that said he was still emotionally ready to bolt and Genji sighed internally.  
Genji grabbed a mug from the tray next to the electric kettle on the sideboard, filled the kettle with water and waited staring intently ahead of him.  
Genji had learned much of patience in the last ten years.  
Slowly, he felt Hanzo start to settle.  
He waited a bit longer after he sat down across from Hanzo before speaking in a small voice for the small space.  
“Nightmare?”  
Hanzo made a non-committal grunt.  
“Wanna talk about it?”  
The words were out before he could think better of them, but while he didn’t regret the offer itself, he knew there was a very real possibility it could key Hanzo up again.  
Hanzo, as predicted made another non-committal grunt, but otherwise seemed to remain calm.  
“You?”  
The question surprised Genji and he debated telling Hanzo about his dream, but also didn’t want to burden him.  
Hanzo, however, suddenly looked panicked again.  
“Was it….”  
He faltered, clearly regretting his words, but Genji could guess and changed his mind about telling Hanzo.  
“No.” he said as reassuringly as he could.  
“Different trauma. About a year after I joined Blackwatch. I was still angry, still figuring out my body on both a physical and philosophical level.  
I was a mess.  
Anyway.  
We were just outside Los Angeles doing recon on a drug ring. It was supposed to be routine. Do some scouting and sabotage. Make it easier for the boys in blue to come in and make the kind of clean sweep that looks good on the news. It was me, Reyes, Jesse, Moira, and a pair of pups. It was probably their third ever mission.  
I don’t even remember their names.  
Normally it would be Jesse who handled the newer kids, but Reyes wanted him on the security feeds while he took Moira to check out the meth lab and I was supposed to infiltrate the armory with the new kids.   
It should have been child's play.  
Then the earthquake struck.  
The meth lab blew before Reyes and Moira got there, and the whole place was up in arms.  
Comms cut out and suddenly I was alone and supposed to support two green operatives. I never wished I could be you more. Maybe if I was decisive and commanding instead of….”  
Hanzo looked shocked. Genji thought perhaps he should dial it back some.  
“It doesn’t matter.  
Both of them were gunned down and Jesse pulled me out.  
I saved his ass four months later, but we aren’t keeping track.”  
Genji felt shaky at the memory, but better for having told the story. Every time he did it got just a little bit easier, just like Mercy said it should.  
Hanzo was wide eyed.  
Something else crossed Hanzo’s face, but immediately disappeared.  
“I’m sorry.” He said, but Genji wasn’t sure why. But then Hanzo probably didn’t even know why.  
It occurred to Genji that this was the first time he had really spoken to Hanzo about his time in Blackwatch as an operative. It was a side of him that would have been completely foreign to Hanzo, having grown up with a Genji that refused to take a hint, let alone an order.  
Hanzo was clearly chewing on the new information, but he also seemed to be retreating back into himself.  
Genji cast about for a way to bring him back.  
“What about you?”  
Hanzo cocked his head to the side in question. Something he never did in daylight, but the weight of the night and the story seemed to be making him more expressive.  
Like it was a layer of defense he didn’t have the will to maintain right now.  
“What about me?”  
He asked with just the barest hint of bitterness. Something Genji filed away for later, but largely chose to ignore at the moment.  
“Was yours about That Night?”  
Hanzo visibly cringed.  
Genji didn’t want to push and if Hanzo really didn’t want to speak of it, Genji was resolved not to force the issue, but a suspicion was lurking in his head and this was maybe the best opportunity to have it out.  
“It does not matter.” Hanzo said.  
He needed a push.  
“Why not?”  
Hanzo was clearly struggling to find words.  
“I do not wish to burden you. Especially not with your own dreams.”  
Genji affected a frown in a way not unlike Master Zenyatta seemed to back when Genji was stubbornly refusing to use basic logic.  
“Did it burden you to hear about my dreams?”  
Hanzo looked vaguely ill for a second, recognizing the trap, but knowing he couldn’t avoid it.  
“No?”  
“Then why should it burden me to hear of yours?”  
Genji finished smoothly. Hanzo huffed and looks away.  
“Hanzo, if it truly bothers you to speak of it, I will respect that, but _please_ consider talking. It does not even have to be to me. I am sure McCree will listen and not judge either.”  
Was that a blush that graced his brother’s face in the candle light? It was something else Genji filed away for later.  
Hanzo huffed again and closed his eyes, collecting himself but still visibly hesitated when he opened them.  
“It was while you were at University. I…. Had been seeing someone. The Clan did not approve.”  
Alarm bells were screaming in the back of Genji's mind. He had never heard about Hanzo being romantically interested in _anyone_ much less someone the Elders hadn’t approved of. But he and Hanzo had already drifted apart by the time he was in college.  
Hanzo took a deep breath and watched Genji's scarred face for any sort of reaction.  
“He…… was less than subtle about it.”  
Genji hadn’t _known_ that Hanzo preferred men, but it didn’t surprise him, either.  
Hanzo wasn’t watching for his disapproval, Genji had been absolutely brazen about his sexual escapades in their youth. Genji wasn’t sure _what_ Hanzo was searching for.  
He must have passed Hanzo’s scrutiny, though because after a shaky breath he continued.  
“Eventually he took the game too far and the Elders…. Father….. He ordered me to…”  
Hanzo blanched even as Genji felt the blood drain out of his own face.  
He knew Sojiro Shimada too well to doubt what his reaction would be.  
Hanzo bowed out of finishing the story and Genji let him.  
He had wanted to offer Hanzo catharsis, not re-traumatize him.  
It made Genji uncomfortable. Not because of the story itself, or even what it said about his father. Genji had known that Hanzo had not been given the same amount of freedom he had, and on some level he had probably even known that Sojiro's treatment of Hanzo had been abusive, but he had never imagined this kind of soul twisting toxicity.  
“You never said… You never told me…”  
Hanzo looked distant, but shrugged.  
“We were not close. There was no point in bothering you about it. Besides. It was something I had to deal with on my own.”  
The only thing more heart wrenching than the knowledge that his brother had suffered this, and suffered it alone was the knowledge that Hanzo had _protected_ him from it and stories like it.  
Rage Genji thought he had let go flared within him and he took a steadying breath.  
There was so much to unpack.  
Anger at Hanzo and Sojiro and himself.  
His own guilt and regrets.  
Hanzo was looking away again and Genji realized this was probably the only opportunity he was going to have to build a door into this layer of Hanzo’s defenses.  
“Hanzo,” he started but immediately faltered. He would have to choose his words carefully.  
“I’m sorry. And thank you.”  
Hanzo lifted an eyebrow at him.  
“I should have been your ally growing up. Not your enemy. Not your responsibility. I should have been your brother. I’m sorry, and thank you for joining me here.”  
Hanzo's eyes widened and Genji could feel him trying to put together some sort of response, but it wasn’t anything Genji wanted to hear; said more because it seemed required more than anything Hanzo truly felt.  
“Don’t.” Genji shushed.  
“It’s okay, Anija. From now on, I want to be your ally and I want you to be mine. I want to undo all the effort the Elders put into separating us. Would you be okay with this? I know it’s not what you came here for, but I miss having a brother.”  
He knew that Hanzo had only come here out of equal parts guilt and curiosity, but he had hoped that given enough time, he would find his reasons to stay and the all important “honor” he was so desperately looking for.  
Genji hadn’t wanted to push so he left Hanzo to figure it out, but it was becoming increasingly clear to him that Hanzo was flailing. If he could offer his brother a safe harbor, that was what he was going to do.  
Hanzo’s eyes had dropped again, that wary look returning.  
“You have Jesse for a brother now. He will not betray you the way I did. You do not need me.”  
Genji took a calming breath knowing how important his next words could prove.  
“Jesse is my brother, yes, but he is not my Anija.”  
A thousand summer nights danced in the back of his mind. Fireworks and fireflies. The stale smell of the old arcade, playing some old fps for the last odongo. The old nightmares turned to wisps of ash in the face of those sweet memories. A brother by his side. His old hero.  
Overwatch would never be a part of those days.  
Hanzo buried his face in his hand, pinching the bridge of his nose, his shoulders shaking.  
As quietly as he dared Genji rose and moved his chair next to his brothers.  
He didn’t wrap am arm around those shoulders, didn’t dare to do anything that might make Hanzo feel trapped.  
He simply allowed their shoulders to touch.  
Hanzo’s crying was silent, subdued, and absolutely, unapologetically human.

**Author's Note:**

> Gah, Ive been wanting to post this for like two weeks, but I just havn't had the chance. (also I've been writing almost exclusively on my phone and ao3 doesn't like tagging things with my phone.  
> So, yeah!  
> Fun Stuff!  
> I know I mentioned a Jurassic Park style AU in my last fic and I have some outlines going for that but inspriations struck me the other night and I have a different AU that I've ended up writing more for.  
> Anyhoo, thank you guys so much for reading! If this goes over as well as my last few fics I will be super crazy happy!  
> Thank you in advance for any Kudos or comments you feel like leaving! They mean a lot to me!  
> Love y'all!


End file.
